Opposites Atrract
by Robin Aurora
Summary: Can life get any worse for Aragorn right now? He’s dealing with his mother’s death, aided by a best friend who is a complete and utter fruitcake, and trying to cope with a girlfriend who flirts with anything that has a pulse. On top of all this the woman
1. All by Myself

**Opposites Attract**

**Rating: T (for future chapters) just to be safe.**

**Summary: **Can life get any worse for Aragorn right now? He's dealing with his mother's death, aided by a best friend who is a complete and utter fruitcake, and trying to cope with a girlfriend who flirts with anything that has a pulse. On top of all this the woman who hates him with all her heart is now sharing a small house with him!

**Disclaimer: **All of these characters belong to the amazing Professor Tolkien and I'm just the girl who likes to mess around with some of his creations.

**Chapter 1: All ****by Myself**

For Eru's sake! All day he had wished that these people would leave him alone. Well now they had done just that and he wished that they would all come back and pester him some more.

Aragorn sat with his head in his hands in his mother's cottage; wondering what was going to happen to him. It had been exactly one week since the funeral and his life was still in pieces. He was going to have to live alone and learn to survive. Sure, he was a ranger and he could take care of himself out in the wild, but leave him in a house and tell him to cook? Well…you'd have more luck getting blood out of a stone.

Now that his mother was in the halls of Mandos, the small, quaint cottage in Rivendell seemed eerily quiet. He hated it. It was just the way it was when he had first moved in at two years old. In fifty years their home had not changed at all. He was not sure if he could call it 'home' anymore. Was it really 'home' if the best bit about it was gone forever?

How was he going to survive without her? He couldn't even use the kettle without nearly setting fire to the living room. How would he cope without her singing as she baked enough apple pie to feed an army and stopped only to nag him? He felt the tears stream down his face before he could stop them.

He had been living with Elrond for the past week. He had not been able to bear coming back after the funeral. Still, he had the weekend ahead of him to settle in and adjust to life alone. It seemed such a good idea this morning.

Plenty of people had already visited to see if he was alright. He told them that of course he was and that he was fine. How could they possibly believe him? Most of them were elves; _one _of them was a _wizard_ for Eru's sake! Surely they could see it in his eyes.

His girlfriend's mother had brought around a small casserole for him and he was incredibly grateful. She had no idea what she had done for him. He couldn't believe his luck; he wouldn't have to cook.

That was before he discovered that I was inedible. It could probably kill 99 of all known germs. He hoped that Calminaiel wouldn't end up like her.

Calminaiel was his girlfriend. She was fairly pretty with big brown eyes and long red hair. She was short and rather plump, making her look remarkably like her mother; a thought that Aragorn tried to push out of his mind every time he saw her. Picturing her mother in romantic moments, he decided, was not the best of ideas.

He hadn't had a moment's peace all afternoon and now that he was alone the lack of his mother's presence was beginning to bother him. He was so lonely without someone to talk to. It was hard being a habitual loner.

He was tempted to fall on his sword or die a slow and painful death from eating Calminaiel's mother's casserole.

The noise of the door opening seemed to wake him up a little. He was suddenly aware of someone else's presence. He stood slowly and walked backwards into the corner of the room. His heart began to beat in double time. He was surprised at his reaction. He was perfectly safe is Rivendell and he knew that well.

Before him stood Legolas Greenleaf; beaming. "Did I miss anything?"

"Good evening." said Aragorn. "I mean come in. There's no need to stand outside and wait for me to ask you in."

"Ah! You're on the mend. You're sarcasm has returned."

Aragorn smiled weakly. "Missed it then have you?"

"It doesn't feel right. You without sarcasm is like…well I don't know. I've never been very good with words but it's odd all the same."

"I am so glad that you're here. People have been driving me up the wall and across the ceiling. Cal's mother has tried to give me food poisoning, Dan and Ro have rifling through my stuff and deciding what I've got room for and what I should throw out and Calminaiel has done nothing but flirt with Dramorion all afternoon."

"Dramorion?"

"He's got a frightful temper though so she'd better be on her guard."

"Ari; you're not making any sense."

"Well if he finds out that she's been leading him on…put it this way; I would not like to be in her shoes."

"But he's engaged."

"What? To who?"

"Oh you wouldn't know her; but you _should. _Her name is Arwen."

"Well of course I know her. Eru knows! You're an idiot sometimes."

"Oh yeah; she's the elleth you spent your teenage years lusting after am I right?"

"You know very well that you're right so don't wind me up. I am not in the mood!"

There was a pregnant pause where neither of them knew what to say.

"So…has Gandalf seen you yet?" asked Legolas, watching his best friend pace around the sitting room.

"Yes. Straight after the funeral he shows up and asks if the key for…what's his name..? Oakenshield! He asked if anything has arrived for a Mr. Oakenshield. Honestly! He has no tact."

"Neither of you so don't be so hypocritical. What does he want with a key anyway?"

"I've no idea. He said something about the lonely mountain and thirteen dwarves and they're all superstitious."

"Was that all he said? He didn't tell you anything else?"

"He didn't tell me _anything._ I heard him muttering it to no-one in particular as he walked off."

"I swear he's going mad."

"_Going_ mad! I shouldn't say that. He's been great over the past few weeks. He's been my only regular visitor. Everyone else seems to think that I should be left alone; even Calminaiel. Although, I think she's just avoiding me because we argued."

"The pair of you are _always_ arguing."

"Yeah well…I don't think we will be much longer."

"For the love of the Valar don't dump her! With the exception of me and Gandalf, if you insist upon never leaving the house, she'll be the only member of the outside world coming in to see you…and she's gorgeous."

"I knew that would come into it somewhere."

"You're lonely aren't you?"

"No! I happen to think that sitting alone in a darkened room with only my memories for company is the ultimate way to spend a Friday night."

"Is that sarcasm again?"

"Of course it is! You don't really think that's true? For someone who claims that they know me better than anyone else, you really don't know me at all!"

"What you need is a housemate."

"I assure that I don't. I don't get on with strangers Leg, if you hadn't noticed! Face it. I'm just dislikeable."

"You? Dislikeable? I have never heard such rubbish in all my born days and, believe me, there have been a lot of them! It's that man in Bree isn't it? For heaven's sake Ari! Just because he thinks that you're a mysterious vagabond doesn't mean that are…well you _are _one; I won't lie to you, but we all love you for it."

"Who did you have in mind?"

"What do you mean 'who do I have in mind'?"

"Well, from the way that you were buttering me up just then, I imagined that you may have a housemate already lined up."

"Well, funnily enough…I do."

"Who is it?" asked Aragorn, thinking that this sounded ominous.

"Me!"

"I thought as much. Why do you need to live here? If you're staying for a long time you can always stay with Elrond."

"Yeah but he won't let me have house parties."

"And neither will I!"

"And he's no fun."

"And neither am I!"

"Stop fishing for compliments. Now, come along, buck up! You can help me pack."


	2. Woman Trouble

**Opposites Attract**

**Rating: T (for future chapters) just to be safe.**

**Summary: **Can life get any worse for Aragorn right now? He's dealing with his mother's death, aided by a best friend who is a complete and utter fruitcake, and trying to cope with a girlfriend who flirts with anything that has a pulse. On top of all this the woman who hates him with all her heart is now sharing a small house with him!

**Disclaimer: **All of these characters belong to the amazing Professor Tolkien and I'm just the girl who likes to mess around with some of his creations.

**A.N. **Sorry about that first chapter; it had a few spelling mistakes but it was written quite late at night because the idea just came to me and I had to write it. Anyway…moving on…

**Chapter 2: Woman Trouble**

It was now a bright Saturday morning and Aragorn slowly opened his eyes. The sun shone in on him and bathed him in a yellow glow. Silence hung in the air until the birds on his window ledge began to sing. It was all so peaceful and quiet and…

Crash!

Too good to last! He leapt out of bed and practically jumped down the stairs until he was standing in his kitchen. Before him stood Legolas, surrounded by broken plates, and looking terrified.

"Morning Ari."

Was that a whimper?

Legolas decided that now was plainly the time to shut up before Aragorn made him look like a panda.

Aragorn, in one of his more pleasant gestures, helped Legolas to pick up bits of china and staunched the bleeding on Legolas' left hand.

"I thought elves were supposed to be graceful."

"Oh we are." Legolas assured him. "Our problem lies with mortals who can't stack plates."

Aragorn had to laugh and Legolas was relieved that he wasn't being thrown out. Although, compared with some of his wilder days this was a mere trifle. He hoped that he was calming down a little.

"So when's Calminaiel coming over?"

"I don't know but as long as she doesn't bring her mother; I don't care."

…

It was seven o'clock when Aragorn emerged, having locked himself in their bathroom, with newly washed hair and smelling of Legolas' aftershave.

"What the hell is that?" asked Legolas, smelling his housemate before he even walked through the door. "Where did you get it?"

"Where did I get what?"

"Lime and ginger aftershave? Ring any bells?"

"Oh that? Your side of the bathroom shelf."

"That's limited edition. It's my favourite one!"

"It's really nice isn't it? It's wasted on you."

Legolas looked as though he was about to swing a punch but his housemate was saved by a knock at the door.

"Is that Calminaiel?"

"I don't know do I? Maybe if you answer it you'll find out."

"Yeah I'll get it." cried Legolas. He walked suspiciously quickly out of the room and his facial expression had given it away. He had forgotten something.

On their doorstep stood a young, pretty elleth. Her long black hair fell like a liquorice waterfall to her slender waist and her bright blue eyes made direct contact with Aragorn's as he turned the corner and stood in their passage.

Legolas laughed nervously and said; "Hi Ari, this is Arwen. She's a friend of mine and she's going through a difficult time so I invited her around because you were going out."

"Well isn't that nice? One question Leg; why is she holding a large suitcase?"

"Oh er…Legolas invited me to come and live with you both for a while. Thanks for letting me come to stay I had no where else to go and Legolas was my last resort." she answered. In twenty years these were the first words that she had said to him.

Aragorn stood, gawping, in their hallway, wondering what to do. Plainly he couldn't tell her that the house was already crammed with Legolas' belongings and that he didn't want her there because he loved her and his girlfriend would hit him…hard; if she ever found out.

"Right well…come in." he told her, carrying her suitcase in for her and staggering under the weight. He wondered how on middle earth she had managed to carry it this far. Clearly, she planned to stay for quite a while.

He was saved the embarrassment of dropping the suitcase and trying to hide his raw fingers by Calminaiel's arrival. It was in moments like this that he loved her sense of timing.

"Hi Ari honey."

She waved at him and then saw who was standing beside him. She shrieked "Arwen!" and ran into the hallway throwing her arms around her best friend.

"Look, I hate to break up the reunion but are we going or what?" asked Aragorn, wanting to get out of this situation as soon as he could.

Calminaiel rolled her eyes and muttered to Arwen; "Men; who'd have them?"

Legolas waited until the couple were out of sight until he led Arwen through to the sitting room and asked her to sit down.

"Right," he said. "Now tell me everything."


End file.
